[Taxacom] Catastrophic loss

[Richard Pyle]

Richard,

I (for one?) thoroughly enjoyed your words! (...which I saw as having little to do with the beast otherwise known as Phascolarctos cinereus; and much more to do with spreading a little levity and joy, with rhyme to boot!)

And as for Aussie vernaculars.... don't get me started!  The "Butterfly Cod" is neither!

Aloha,
Rich

Richard L. Pyle, PhD
Senior Curator of Ichthyology | Director of XCoRE
Bernice Pauahi Bishop Museum
1525 Bernice Street, Honolulu, HI 96817-2704
Office: (808) 848-4115;  Fax: (808) 847-8252
eMail: deepreef at bishopmuseum.org
BishopMuseum.org
Our Mission: Bishop Museum inspires our community and visitors through the exploration and celebration of the extraordinary history, culture, and environment of Hawaiʻi and the Pacific.

> -----Original Message-----
> From: Taxacom <taxacom-bounces at mailman.nhm.ku.edu> On Behalf Of
> Richard Jensen via Taxacom
> Sent: Sunday, January 24, 2021 7:50 AM
> To: Taxacom <Taxacom at mailman.nhm.ku.edu>
> Subject: [Taxacom] Catastrophic loss
> 
> Tony Reese wrote:
> 
> >>(1) "Koala bear-like animal with carnivorous teeth" - no bear
> >>references PLEASE!! Koalas are koalas, pure and simple, and about as
> >>far away
> >>(phylogenetically) from bears as you can get and still be a mammal.
> 
> Oh no! Gone is "Teddy Bear"; so to the "Australian silver oak"; no more
> "seahorses"; extinction of "lady bugs"; disappearance of "butterfly weed";?
> 
> I was not aware that Koala bear was a name of confusion, based on illusion, or
> simply allusion. Do we really believe such names can deceive? Or can we
> forebear, with little despair, that names we all know, from quite long ago,
> need not agree with phylogeny?
> 
> Cheers,
> 
> Dick
> --
> Richard Jensen, Professor Emeritus
> Department of Biology
> Saint Mary's College
> Notre Dame, IN 46556
> _______________________________________________
> Taxacom Mailing List
> 
> Send Taxacom mailing list submissions to: taxacom at mailman.nhm.ku.edu For
> list information; to subscribe or unsubscribe, visit:
> http://mailman.nhm.ku.edu/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/taxacom
> You can reach the person managing the list at: taxacom-
> owner at mailman.nhm.ku.edu The Taxacom email archive back to 1992 can be
> searched at: http://taxacom.markmail.org
> 
> Nurturing nuance while assaulting ambiguity for about 33 years, 1987-2020.